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PRODUCTION OF WELDED WIRE FABRIC AND APPARATUS THEREFOR 6 Sheets-Sheet A. ARMSTRONG Filed Sept. 24, 1926 March 5, 1929.4

Inventor March 5, 1929. A A TR 1,704,526

PRODUCTION OF WELDED WIRE FABRIC AND APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed Sept. 24-. 1926' 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 5. 1929. A A, A-RMSTR' 1,704,526

PRODUCTION OF WELDED WIRE FABRIC AND APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed Sept. 2.4, 1926 6 Sheets-Sheet a/ A flaw v a, i y

March 5, 1929. ARMSTRQNG 1,704,526

PRODUCTIQN 0F WELDED WIRE FABRIC AND APPARATUS THEREFOR I 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 24, 1926 1 1 [III],

Ina/0122301:

March 5, 1929. A, ARMSTRONG 1,704,526

PRODUCTION OF WELDED WIRE FABRIC AND APPARATUS THEREFOR WWW/77% i March 5, 1929. ARMSTRONG 1,704,526

PRODUCTION OF WELDED WIRE FABRIC AND APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed Sept. 24, 1926 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Patented Mar. 5, 1929.

srA'rss rnrssr orrics.

ALAN ARIVL'STBOING, OF VJ'l-IITLEY BAY, ENGLAIED, TO EILKIIIGTGN BROTH- ERS LIMITED, 015 LLVERPOUL, EllG-LAIID, it CQBEIPJLNY G71 GREAT BBCLTAEN.

PRODUCTION QF "WELDED WIRE 33 1313338 AND APFA'RATUS THEREFOR.

Application filed September 24, 1326, Serial No. 1373493, and in Great Britain October 3, 1925.

ubove mentioned pluralities of wires, the

fabric may contain other wires, such, for

. ii'istunce, us selvedge 'ires running in the direction oi? the length oi? the fabric.

i'iccording to the invention. the wire from whim. the fabric is produced is contained on at plurality of spools, and wires from said spools are brought into two closely ui'ljucent Merit-s the wires in one plane being at an angle to those in the other olune, the wires or the two planes being welded together their crossing points to form the fabric. lileuns are provided for feeding the fabric without injuring; it -for varying the width cl? tubric prmtluced, for incorporating selvedgre wires in the fabric and for producing :1, plurality of narrow fabrics simultaneously.

In the accompanying drawings lTigure l is it side elevation of pertinent pi: rls o'l the machine;

l igure 2 is :1 plan of Figure 1;

Figure $15 is u rear elevation of Figure 1 with ports omitted;

Figure l 1 u transverse section and Figure *3 u longitudinal section both on an ened scule of the mesh-forming device; '1 in ure G is u transverse section and Figure 7 portion of utront view, both on different e'i'ihirged scales, of the welding device;

Figure 8 is a side view, on. an ei'ilorged scale of a portion of one of the transfer spindles and its bracket;

Figure 9 is side view of port of the gearol the machine;

l io'ure 10 is 2t plun of port of the feed d in in.

Figure 11 an enlarged view of a portion thereof Figure 12 is a section along the line l212 of Figure l1, on an enlarged scale;

Figure 13 is a transverse section of the fabric druni;

Figure 14: is o front view of a portion thereof;

Figure 15 is a diagram of the wires at the welding); lines;

F i nure 16 is :1. detail view of one of the die operating: cums and Figure l? is a plan of detached. parts of the nieclmnisin.

'lhroughord this specification the front of the nuichine is regarded as that part to words which the wires of the fabric truvel, viz the right-hand sides of Figures 1 and 2.

Referrin to the drawings, 1 is the frame oi the machine 2 is an upstanding bracket thereon, supporting the rotating spool drum 3 and the transfer spindle brackets l. The general action oi? the machine without coni sidering details, is as follows :Referring to lligure 1 the wires of which the fabric is formed, are contained on spools 3" arranged in two circles around the periphery oi the spool drum 3; only a few of these spools are shown in the drawing, but it is to be understood that there are as many of these spools as there are wires other than selvedge wires) in the fabric. The spool drum 3 is arranges to turn on an eunulur extension of the bracket 2. The wires 5 pass irmn the spools to two sets o'li inesh-for1ning ca 'riers arranged in two horizontal rows one in'nnediutely below the other, located between two transversely extending screws 6 and 7 (also in Figure 4). The wires 5, of which only two are shown in Figures 1 and 4, lie on a circle at the spool drum 3 and are brought to two closely adjacent horizontal planes between the screws 6 and 7. The wires in one plane when leaving the screws 6 andl, cross those in the other plane, and pass to the welding: di A in the beams 8 and 9, where they are weld H tog'etl er at their crossing points. FY0110 here the fabric passes to the feed drum l0 and from t' is to the fabric druin 11.

The operation of the machine will now be described in detail. The main driving shaft 12 (Figures 1 and 2) extending; transversely of the machine carries a spiral gear 13 driving :1v spiral gear 14: on the front end. of a shaft 15 which, at its rear-rend, has fZLSlJ on it a crank disc 16 working a connecting rod 17. This rod operates pinion 18 (shown in dotted lines in Figure 1) through 21 set of change gear wheels 19., a ratchet wheel and ratchet 21. The pinion 18 is not visible in Figure 2 but is on the centre line of the nut-chine. This gearing may be of any ordinary construction and need not be more perticulurly described. The pinion l8 drives the spool druin 3 by a toothed ring 22 on the druzn. The spool drum 3. which is a ring is rotatably mounted on an annular extension of the bracket 2, shown in dotted lines at 23 in Figure 1. A plate 24 is fixed to the front face of the spool drum 3 and has a plurality of holes, corresponding to the plurality of spools 3, through which the wires 5 pass.

Referring to Figures 4 and 5, the wires 5 pass to two series of carriers 25. Each carrier is, in section, a little less than a semicircle in general form, ch two lugs 26 sewing to retain and uide it in the frame 1, and a central lug 27 wnich engages in the thread of the screw 6 or 7, by which it is driven. Each carrier is traversed by a longitudinal hole 28 through which the respective wire passes. The carriers are arranged in two series one aoove the other (Figure 5) the upper engaging by their lugs 27 with the screw 6 and the lower by their corresponding lugs with the screw 7. They are separated by a plate 29 along which they slide. The screw 6 turns clockwise, as viewed in Figures 1 and 4, causing the upper carriers to move from right to left, and the screw 7 counterclockwise, causing the lower carriers to move from left to right. By reason of this movement the wires passing through the upper and lower series of carriers 25 are caused to cross each other to form diamondshaped meshes and are bent about the hereinafter described selvedge wires at the edges of the fabric. The rate of turning of the screws 6 and 7 is so related to the rate of turning of the spool drum 3, that a carrier coinpletes its course across the machine in the time of half a turn of the spool drum.

The transfer device by which a carrier 25 of one series, which has reached the end of its course, is transferred to the other series will now be described. The extreme left-hand upper carricr'in Figure 5 has passed off the plate 29 on to a tongue 30 which, in the position shown, forms a continuation of the plate 29. The tongue 30 forms a prolongation of a transfer spindle 31, of which there are two, one at each side of the machine (Figures 1, 2 and 8) running in brackets 4c. The tongue 30 is not visible in Figure 4 because it lies behind the plate 29. The spindles 31 and brackets 4 are arranged to be adjustable horizontally transversely of the machine, but for the moment and for convenience, the brackets are regarded as fixed to the bracket 2. Each spindle 31 has fast on its rear end, a spiral gear 32 driven by a spiral gear 33 on a horizontal transverse shaft 34 running in a bearing 35 on the respective bracket l (Figure 8) and supported in other bearings 35 Fig ure 2), fast to the bracket 2. The shaft 34 is driven by an intermittent bevel gear,-

are turned continuously, but the shaft 34 and the transfer spindles 31 are turned intermittently by means of the intermittent bevel gear 36, 37. The gearing is so arrane'ed that each transfer spindle 31 turns through 180 degrees, then remains stationary and then turns again through the remaining 180 degrees.

Referring again to Figure 5, after the screw 6 has turned so as to move the extreme left-hand carrier off the plate 29 on to the tongue, that is to say, into the position inclicatcd in Figure 5, the spindle 31 receives its turi'iii'lg mot-ion, and this brings the said carrier into an inverted position below the tongues 30 and in the lower series of carr'ers. A similar action takes place at the other end of the screws 6 and 7, the last carrier in the lower series being turned and brought into the upper series. By this means the carriers are 'iven a circulating motion around the plate 29.

Referring now to the welding device shown in Figures 6 and 7, the lower beam 9, attached to the fran'ie 1, carries two welding bars 38 insulated from the beam by a strip 39. The upper beam carries two series of welding dies d0 attached to rods ll adapted to slice verticall in holes in the beam 8 and pressed downwa ls by springs 4:2. These dies 40 are staggered in the two series and co-operate with the welding bars 38. In Figure 7, the front scr'cs of welding dies l0 and rods ll are omitted in order to make the drawing more clear; if they had been represented, they would appear in the spaces bet-ween the back dies which are shown. The electrical connections to these welding bars and dies. the transformers and switch device are not show, as these may be of any form customary in weldingmachines, and said switch device may be operated from a gear or chain wheel 10 on the shaft 15.

The pper beam 8 is mounted on two rods 43 (Figures 1, 2, 6 and 7) adapted to slide vertically in suial'ile guides.

By mechanism hereinafter described, the rods 43 are depressed the appro niate times so as to press the welding dies &0 on to the pairs of crossing wires which oass close above the welding bars 38, and ect av weld at each crossing point by pressing the wires on to the welding bars. In order to ensure the correct location of the wires and produce uniform meshes, a. mesh forming bar 44: is attached to the upper beam 8. On the right of Figure 7, some of the welding dies and their rods 41 a e omitted to more clearly show the bar 44- which is provided with a i -notch 52 each weldin of one of the rows =.,;=Jninatin' in a slot ie mesh-forming bar ding bar 45, ac nted to slide up and on the beam 9. Lugs 46, one at each end of the bar l5, engage with arms 4? atllO taehed to a shaft 48 which is adapted to turn in brackets 49 on the beam 9. An arm 50 on this shaft is depressed at the appropriate times by mechanism hereinafter described, so as to raise the slidingbar 45. Figure 15 isa diagrainmaie plan view of the welding dies 40, the 1neshaformingbar id 2 id the wires From this it will be seen that the dies are so disposed as to weld three out of the four crossing points of each mesh 51, while the fourth crossing point is on the line of the meshaforming bar ll. If then, the wires do accurately along this line and along of the welding); dies, the ll-notches 52 of the bar er embrace the pairs of wires when th ebeam 8 is depresserh and the wires are forced into the slot 53 by the bar 45, which raised to meet the bar t wires thus are forced to cross long the line of the bar l-l and thus ensures uniforini in the meshes.

The feed of the wires id of the fabric when formed, is effected by in feed drum 10 and the fabric drum 1],. The f l drum ill is cut with two series of crossin s greet f as shown in Figures 11 and Figure 10 the grooves are indicat' I by lines; in Figure ll they are enlarged scale, together with a c tial groove 55, which is hereinafte-z re to, while Figure 12 as hereiubefor is a section along the line l2--l2 of h i The grooves 54 are so formed that th of the finished fabric. can enter them. The feed drum 10 is rotated intermittently to feed the fabric, by a ratchet Wheel 58 operated by a pawl 57 (Figures 1 and 9) pivoted to a lever 58 which is pivoted on the shaft 59 of the drum 10. a

The fabric drum (Figures 13 and 14-) is composed of two pro-hr y sheet metal semicylinders 11 and 11 held together by end pieces or straps in two portions 60 and 60, which can be pressed together by bolts and wing-nuts 61. The portions 60 are semiannular except for the lugs to take the bolts and wing-nuts; the portions 60 have plates, also iden ified by the reference constituting end plates to the drums, as shown by the dotted lines in Figure 1 1. The fabric is attached to the drum by loosenin the wing-nuts 61, inserting the end of the brie between the semi-cylinders 11 and 11. and then tightening; the wingn'uts. Stub shafts are attacl d to the end plates and turn in bear in l in the frame 1.. he stub shaft on the diameters of the feed and fabric drums, that the latter tends to turn at a slightly higher peripheral speed than does the feed drum, when it is empty, the clutch 60 63, 6d slipping sufficiently to compensate for tl'ie surplus motion of the fabric driun. By this means the pull required to feed the fabric and wires taken mainly by the fabric drum.

The mechanism for operating the above described parts of the machine is shown in Figure 9, from which all framework and bearings have been omitted. The main shaft 12 has fixed to it a gear wheel 69, immediately behind the spiral gear 13, which is partly broken away to show it. The wheel 69 drives an equal wheel 70 on a shaft 71 and this drives an equal gear wheel 72 (shown in dotted lines) on a shaft 73. On the shaft is fixed an intermittentgear wheel 74: which drives an intermittent gear wheel 75 on the screw '4", and on this screw a gear wheel 76 (shown in dotted lines) which drives the gear wheel Y? on the screw 6. By means of the intermittent gears 7:4 and 75 and the gears Z6 and 77 the screws 6 and 7 are turned to traverse the two rows of carriers 25 in respectively opposite directions and inter mitt tlf. y

(in the main shaft 12 and behind the gear wheel 69 a nice '58 shown in detail in Figure 1-6, with a cam groove on its back face. A roller T9 on an arm or lever 80 engages the cam groove in th disc 78. The arm 80, at one end is pivoted to the frame at 81 and, at its other end is pivoted at 82 to one rod 43 of the weldinr; beam 8. Theother rod 43 correspondingly connected to a lever operated by a cam disc similar to 78, attached to the main shaft 12 at the other side of the machine. The cam groove in the disc 78 is so shaped as to depress the beam 8 and close the welding dies at the appropriate time and retain them closed for the requisite perioe. Pivoted also at 82 is a rod 83 connected with the lever 50, which, as before described operates the shaft 4:8 and the bar 45, through the arm l7 and lugs 46. The bar 4-5 is thereby raised as the beam 8 is depressed. On the wheel 70 is secured an eccentric disc 84 with strap 85 and connecting rod 86 pivoted 87 to the pawl-operating lever 58.

In order to provide selvedge Wires in the edges of-the fabric, the transfer spindles 81 and the? r tongues 00 are provided with axial holes 88 (Figures 5 and 4t). Selvedge wires are passed through these holes from spools 89 (l ig res l, 2 and 3) mounted on a strip 90 fast on the bracket 2. As shown in Figures 1.0 and 11 circumferential grooves 55 aligned witl crossing points of the mesh wires 5, are

provided in the feed drum 10 to take these selvedge wires.

The machine is arranged so that fabric of a width loss than the maximum can be formed, and also so that two or more strips of fabric, each with its selvedge wires can be formed simultaneously, provided that the total width of the strips does not exceed the maximum width of fabric, for which the machine is constructed.

To vary the width of the fabric to be produced, the transfer spindles 01 are made adjustable in position. Figure 8 shows the left-hand end of the bracket l of one of the transfer spindles 31, the view being the same as in Figure l, but drawn to a larger scale. The bracket is adapted to slide in guide ways 91, in the bracket 2. A right and left handed screw 92 journalled in the bracket 2, as shown in Figure 1, traverses nuts 93 in the brackets 4, that in one bracket being right-handed and that in the other left-handed. By turn-- ing the screw 99., the two brackets l with their transfer spindles 31 can be brought and retained nearer tog ier. he spiral gear wheels 33 are mounted on the shaft 34 on sliding feathers and are caused to slide along the shaft as the brackets l are moved, by the hearing pieces 3?. A plurality of selvedge wire circumferential grooves 55 are provided on the feed drum 10 as shown in Figure 10. and the machine can therefore be operated with the transfer spindles 31 in positions opposite to any of the grooves. The selvedge wire spools 89 are placed in corresponding positions on the strip 90. Now, when the transfer spindles are not at their extreme positions, a certain number of the carriers 25 must he removed and a plate 29 shorter in transverse length, must be used. This is conveni -itly arranged by making the plate in two separable parts (as shown in Figure which, for the minimum width of fabric, mutually engage with each other at their inner ends, and for greater widths of fabric ma e with the respectively opposite ends of oiie of a series of interchangeable plate members 29 of respectively different lengths.

As shown best in Figure 1'2, the plate 29 or each section thereof, has a lug 94c adapted to enter a slot in a projection 95 from each bracket i and be fixed therein. in order that the carriers 25 may be able to be turned by the tongues 30., slots 96 (shown in dotted lines in Figureb) are Cue in the threads of the screws 6 and T in such positions that, when the tongues 30 are turning, the lugs 27 of the carriers 26 are in the slots of tie screws 6 and 7 which then are stationary.

When it is desired to produce two strips of fabric simultaneously, a shearing device of any convenient construction is fittec to the machine to cut the whole width of fabric into two strips. Such shearing device may consist of two shafts 97 and 98 (Figures 1 and 2) carrying circular knives 99, the shaft 9'? being driven from the feed drum snaft by a chain gear 1.00 and the shaft 98 being driven from the shaft 97 by gears 101. In order that the two strips of fabric so formed, may

iave selvedge wires at both edges, two spools of wire 102 (Figures 2 and 3) are attached to the strip 90 in such position that the line of division of the fabric lies between them. ires are takefrom these spools through holes in the plate 29, as at 103, (Figure 5) and pairs of grooves 10%.- (Fig. 10) are formed in the feed 3 to accommodate the wires. The whole width of fabric may be formed into more than two strips by t e provision of fur ther pairs of shearing knives 99 and further selvedgo wire spools.

The operation of the machine is as follows The lever 58 of the feed drum 10 is oerated by the rotation of the eccentric 84 to f l ll the fabric, the fabric drum 11, i used) the shearing device 99 re- Ll Simultaneously the s,.ool trum 3 rotates through a distance equal to the pitch of its spools 3. Simultareously also the screws 6 and 7 are rotated to move the carriers 25 through a distance equal to tl sir pitch, the upper ones to the left 2 wer to the right. Then, during the backward in. 'veuient of the ratchets 57 and 21, by me ns of the intermittent gears Tel, 75, the fe d o the fabric, the rotation of the spool drum 3 and the movement of the carriers 25 all cease. The cam grooves on the discs 78 acting through the rollers 79, levers 80 and rods 43, then cause the upper welding die b am 8 to descend and press the mesh and selvedge wi against the lower welding dies and sin'iultaneously the bar 45 rises, through the action of the lever 47, 50, and connecting rod 83, to co-act with the mesh-forming plate l4: to locate the wires accurately. The welds are then effected. the end of the welding operation and by means of the intern'iittent bevel gear 36, 37, the transfer spindles 31 are turned through 180 degrees to transfer the end carriers 25 from one series to the other series of carriers. After this operation the welding dies are opened sufficiently to free the wires. The cvcle of the machine is then complete.

When a fabric of less than full width is to be produced, for instance a fal sic of half full width half the carriers mustbe removed, half the spools on the drum 3 must be re moved, or left idle, transfer spindles 31 must be moved towards each other to half the maximum distance apart, and the change speed gears 19 of the spool drum must be changed give said spool drum. twice the speed, so that it while makes one revolution any one carrier 25 completes its cyclical course.

The machine described. above is only one form of many possible devices for carrying out the invention, the essential feature of which is that two pluralities of wires are juxtaposed, each wire of one plurality being at an to each wire of the other plural ity, thus providing a plurality of points Where the wires of the two plurelities cross and where they are welded.

If desired, the selvedge wires may be criinped by passing said wires between pairs of crimping rol" so as to ensure their re manning: in corrc position.

it will be obvious that the before described n'nichine may be arranged to produce fabric which nieshes oi shape other than the dieniond shape depicted in the drawings, for exanuvle, said nieshes u'uiy be of square form ranged allele-wise 21c. the fabric, as when each wire of one plurality is at on single of 90 to each wire oi the other plurality, the only materiel char; in the machine necessary for such vznrizmons, being: e. substitution for one feed drum, of another having); the desired lay-out of grooves 54;, and :i variation in the relative speeds of operation of the dif- 'l crent organs ot said machine.

Having); described my invention, I declare that what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. Process of producing); 51 welded wire 'liebric by supplying sinniltnnemisly all the wires (except selvcdge wires) oin to form the fabric, bringing hell? of soul wires into one plane an d the other halt into :i closely edjoccnt plane, the wires in the two plnnes crossing; each other, and welding: together the wires in the two planes at their crossing}; points. i

Process of producing o welded wire fabric by supplying a plrurelity of wires, moving the wires of the said plurality cyclically, bring" belt the wires thereof into one plane and the other half into it closely adjacent plane, the wires in one plane being; at on angle to the direction of length of the :lobric and the wires in the other plane b at an equal but opposite angle to "d direction, and welding; together the wires in the two planes at their crossing points.

Process 01: producing a welded wire tubrlc by supplying; a plurality of wnres, moving the wires of the said plurality cyclically, bringing half the wires thereoi into one plane and the other half into e closely adjacent plane, feeding the wires by a. motion coinpounded of a motion in the direction of the fabric and it motion transverse to the Fabric, the wires in the two planes crossing; each other, and welding together the rires in the two planes at their orossin points.

4t. Process of producing welded wire fabric by supplying a plurality of wires, inevin n; the wires of the said plurmity cyclically, bringing: half the wires thereot into one plane and the other half into closely edjziccnt plane, the wires in the two planes crossing each other, and welding together the wires simultaneously along two lines of their crossing points extending transversely to the fabric.

5. Process of producing a welded Wire fabric by supplying a plurality of wires, moving the wires of the said plurelity cyclically, bringinghalf the wires thereof into one plane and the other half into a. closely adjacent plane, the wires in the two planes crossing each other, welding together the wires in the two planes at their crossing points, running selvedge wires in the direction oi the length of the fabric and bending the wires of the plurality round the selvedge wires.

(3. Process of producing a welded wire fabric by supplying s plurality of wires, n ov the wires of the said plurality cyclically, brin ging h all the wire thereof into one plane and the other hell into it closely adjacent plane, the w 3 in the two planes crossing each other, running wires in closely adjacent pairs in the direction of length of the fabric, welding crossing: points the wires of one plane to those of the other pl zinc and the wires of each plane to the said wires in pairs, and cutting the :l'obric between the two wires of each pair to form n. plurality oi? strips of fabric.

'7. Process of producing a welded wire tliebric by suppl inn; simultaneously all the wires (except seivedge wires) going to form the isoric, from spools on a drum, rotating the drum, bringing halt oi? the solid wires into one plane and the other half into it closely ll-Eljacent plane, the wires in the two planes crossing each other, and welding to ther the wires in the two planes at their crossing points.

8. Process of producing a welded wire fabric by supplying a plurality of wires, moving the wires of the said plurality cyclically, bringing; each wire to one eta plurality of carriers disposed in two closely :tdjecent planes, moving the carriers cyclically along; each plane and into the other plane, the wires passing to the carriers in one plane being; thereby caused to cross those passing to the carriers in the other plane, and welding together the wires at their crossing points.

9. In the process according to claim 8, adjusting the speed of cyclical motion of the wires and that of the carriers so that the two motions complete their cycle in the some time.

10. Process of producing e. welded wire fabric by supplying; aplurelity of wires, moving the wires of the said; plurality cyclically, bringi n g each wire to one or a plurality of carriers disposed in two closely adjacent planes, moving the carriers cyclically along each. plane and into the other plane, the wires passing: to the carriers in the other plane, running wires in the direction oi? length oi the fabric between the carriers in the two planes, and welding together the wires at their crossing points.

In witness whereof I have efiixed my signature hereto.

ALAN ARMSTRONG. 

